


Puppet Strings

by MokkiMoka



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gang Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kinda hurt/no comfort actually, Major Character Injury, Masaomi needs a hug, No Smut, Sad, Slight twist of the canon verse, izaya is a dick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28563465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MokkiMoka/pseuds/MokkiMoka
Summary: In this twist of their first encounter, history repeats itself, leading Masaomi back into Izaya’s clutches.
Relationships: Kida Masaomi/Mikajima Saki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	Puppet Strings

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: TRIGGER WARNING FOR GANG VIOLENCE INCLUDING CUTTING  
> This is a collab with SilverLiningSheep on ff.net/AO3

Masaomi stood at the wooden door, staring down at the handle in thought. His girlfriend's words echoed throughout his mind amidst the storm of doubt clouding his brain. Should he? Saki did say _he_ knew everything. Brushing his bangs back with his fingers, he clutched the handle of the door. He sucked in one last breath before giving the wood a gentle tap. Seconds ticked by as he stood, waiting for anything, whether that be movement inside or the face of the man his girlfriend trusted with her soul.

Brushing aside the feeling of dread, Masaomi turned the handle and let himself in. Once the door swung open, his senses heightened. He needed to keep a guard up for the unexpected. Whoever this man was, Masaomi had a gut feeling that if he didn't tread water carefully, things would only turn for the worse.

The second he entered the apartment, multiple emotions passed through him. The interior was rather plain and the overall tone of the room caused an uneasy feeling to fill the boy. He gulped, swallowing hard. In front of him, by the couches, was a man with dark hair, dressed in matching dark-toned clothing. When his arms outstretched, Masaomi took a shaky step back.

"Welcome! You must be Masaomi!"

Before he knew it, he was grabbed by the shoulders and taken to the couches. The guy who must be Izaya shot out a hand. "Take a seat! Don't be shy!"

Feeling at a loss for words, Masaomi accepted the invitation and sat down on the rather stiff couch. Almost in an instant, a cup of tea was slid in front of him.

"So, I presume you have a little dilemma you would like to share with me?"

Masaomi's head shot up from the tea and to the source of the voice. His eyes scanned the rather open demeanor the man was expressing. It was almost as if they were here just to have a little chat; not discuss something as distasteful as gang wars. "U-Um, yeah." He cleared his throat. Why was he so nervous? Saki seemed to trust him with her entire being. "Saki said you could help me."

"Ah, Saki," Izaya hummed. "You two are an item right?"

For some reason, the more Izaya talked, the more Masaomi wanted to hold in everything and run. The man hadn't done anything yet but he couldn't ignore his gut feeling telling him to leave. As he sat there awkwardly on the couch, he could feel Izaya's eyes on him but felt reluctant to reply to him. Those piercing eyes. There was something off about this entire thing. He opened his mouth to speak. "I'm having trouble with… with a gang I'm… in."

"Gangs huh?" Izaya leaned back, leg crossed, and took a slow sip of his tea. "Aren't you a little young to be in one?"

Masaomi sucked in a breath. "Yeah I am but…" His gaze dropped to his hands. "That's not important." Gears were spinning within his brain, trying to figure out how he could find the right words to describe the situation clearly. "The Yellow Scarves have found themselves in trouble with the Blue Squares. We've...we've tried everything, everything down to breaking and entering…" Masaomi bit his lip. "...And as the leader….I can't just sit and watch my friends get hurt." He looked up through his eyelashes at Izaya who merely sat there staring at him.

"So you'd like me to tell you how to reign victorious with this gang war of yours? Is that right?"

Masaomi's fingers curled around the teacup in hand. "Y-Yes," he said, unsure. "I don't know what else to do and I can't sit back and do nothing." Despite his attempts to shield it, his desperation was heard clearly through his tone.

Izaya leaned forward to place his teacup on the coffee table. "If that's the case, you do know information like that is very valuable-"

"I'll do anything!" Masaomi bit his tongue afterward. Why would he say such a thing? And to a stranger no less!

Izaya merely chuckled and stared at the boy straight in the eyes. "All I require from you are six bills."

Masaomi blinked. Six thousand yen? That's it? "O-Oh." That seemed too good to be true. He had expected to pay far more than that. The moment he reached into his wallet, he pulled out the required money and handed it to him.

Izaya mentally counted what he was being given and laughed, gently pushing the boy's hand away. "When I said bills, I didn't mean thousand yen bills."

"O-Oh." Not sure what he had done wrong, Masaomi withdrew his hand. "How much were you looking for?"

"600, 000 yen."

Masaomi's face paled. 600, 000 yen!? Where was he supposed to get that kind of money!?

"I can see you're quite shocked. Did you think you could acquire my service with chump change?" Izaya spoke when Masaomi fell silent. He studied the boy's expression with a sharp eye.

Heat rose to Masaomi's cheeks. How humiliating. Here he was thinking he could take matters into his own hands. Now what? He didn't have enough money for the informant's help. What would Saki say? What would she think? Masaomi grit his teeth. He didn't appreciate the man's taunting.

"Let me propose an offer."

Masaomi found himself getting caught in his gaze.

"We can worry about payment at a later date, whether it be money or something else in exchange. Do we have a deal?"

Nothing about that sounded good. Masaomi wracked his brain of what the other methods of payment were. Almost afraid to find out, he asked anyway. "What other sources of payment do you accept?" A small smile grew on the informant's face and Masaomi didn't feel good.

"As I've said, we can discuss that later. Don't you think solving the matter at hand is of far more importance?"

Almost too eagerly, Masaomi nodded. "Yes please."

"So?" Izaya raised an eyebrow. "Do we have a deal then?"

Masaomi took a second to look at the ground as he considered his options. It was either that or his friends got hurt or worse. He squeezed his eyes shut. That could never happen, he wouldn't allow it! With clear eyes, Masaomi stuck out his palm. "It's a deal."

Izaya chuckled once more at the boy's antics. "As much as one would enjoy the bond of a single handshake to form a contract, I'm more fond of signatures." He took a step out of his seat and over to his drawer where he pulled out a document, taking some time to add in some details with a pen.

When Masaomi was handed the sheet, his eyes skimmed over to the extra details Izaya had added in. Mentions of other methods of payment and the information being sold were written in the 'other' boxes, and at the bottom lay Izaya's insanely neat signature. With a gulp, Masaomi signed underneath it and handed it back to him.

Taking the sheet in his hands, Izaya clapped. "Excellent! Now…" He took a seat once more and leaned forward, elbows on knees. "Here's what you need to do…"

* * *

It was a success. A huge one at that. Masaomi's face lit up as he and the other members of the Yellow Scarves celebrated a victory in one of their hidden locations. The Blue Squares were sloppy in comparison to the heavily crafted plan the informant laid out for them.

Now with the Yellow Scarves one step ahead of them, it looked like it'd be smooth sailing from here on out.

…

_Ding_

…

Amidst the hooting and hollering, Masaomi was able to hear his text tone go off. Lifting a hand to his pocket, he slid out his cell and read the message.

" _So, did everything work out okay?"_

It was Saki. He remembered telling her earlier about the plan, and naturally, she was worried.

" _It was amazing!"_ He typed, hands shaking in sheer excitement. _"I wish you could've seen the looks on their faces!"_ Masaomi could barely keep it together. He had to tell Izaya too! His fingers slid across the keyboard as he sent him a text as well.

" _All thanks to you, we kicked the Blue Square's ass! Can I tell you about it?"_

He bounced on his tiptoes as he waited for a reply.

" _I'm happy to hear that! Why don't you come over and tell me all the details?"_

Without waiting another minute, Masaomi beelined it for Izaya's place. He was so ecstatic, he forgot to knock and instead just entered the apartment. "Izaya! You'll never believe what happened!"

Sitting so casually on the couch, as if he were waiting for Masaomi the entire day, Izaya sat up and grinned. "Come have a seat and lay it on me!"

Masaomi spent a good twenty minutes describing in full detail what exactly went down. He remained standing, flailing his arms around rather animatedly as if to act out some moments and his voice had raised an octave. The smile on his face was the biggest it had ever been before and he stood in front of the man. "You're amazing! You're so totally awesome! How did you know all that? I mean, the Blue Squares had nothing on us! They were so shocked, so surprised when we ambushed them!" The boy tilted his head back to let out a hearty laugh and even wipe his happy tears. "They're never going to mess with us again! We destroyed them!"

Izaya sat calmly, waiting for the boy to finish. "I'm happy to hear my service was of use to you."

"Saki was right about you! You're the best! Thank you Izaya! Thank you!" Masaomi's eyes sparkled. This was a new moment for the Yellow Scarves. It was one that he would never forget.

* * *

There was a rather continuous trend after their first victory. The Yellow Scarves maintained their ground and remained one step ahead of the Blue Squares. Everything was perfect in Masaomi's eyes. Their gang was getting ambushed far less, fights rarely broke out, and he even had more time to hang out with his girlfriend Saki.

"Where are you going?" Saki questioned from her spot on the bed. The two were currently inside Masaomi's apartment late that Tuesday night.

Masaomi slid one of his shoes on. "I'm going to meet with Izaya." His answer was simple as if he was just going to see a friend.

Leaning up a bit, Saki eyed him. "You've been over there quite a lot recently. Is everything okay?"

"Of course, I just wanted to see him." There was a smile on his face. Perhaps they really were friends. How odd. But when his eyes laid on that familiar friendly face, everything felt right in the world. "Good evening Izaya!" Masaomi chirped at the doorway.

It was true that he had been visiting Izaya a lot but he didn't mind, he loved it. Izaya was very easy to talk to and always knew the right thing to say. Over time, it was as if he had slowly become Masaomi's role model; someone he looked up to like nobody else. The man had incredible value! He always knew what the entire town was up to and he helped teach Masaomi more about how to handle gang life.

He even went the extra mile to teach some fighting techniques. The Blue Squares always fought dirty and it was only fair for Masaomi to learn a few of them and how to combat them.

"Wow, you're amazing!" Masaomi sat up off his back, slightly out of breath from being knocked over. "Is there anything you can't do?"

Izaya simply smiled and reached out a hand. "Now what you need to do is reach out when I do this." He yanked the boy to his feet once more and held his hand around his neck gently. "You take your hand-no no, like this-yes that." He took the weak hand that was wrapped around his wrist and gave it a gentle pull. "Yank my arm away right here to the left."

Masaomi did as he was told and his eyes widened when it immediately let go of him.

"Yes! See how easy that is? I've seen a few of the Blue Squares try to headlock people like that and the easiest way to fight that is with that move I just showed you." Izaya took a step back. "For a boy your age I'm rather impressed with your fighting abilities overall."

Masaomi gawked. "Me?! You pack a freaking knife! I wish I could do that."

Izaya merely waved him off. "You don't need weapons to be a formidable fighter. You're fine the way you are."

…

And it continued like that. Masaomi visited Izaya throughout the week, The Yellow Scarves kept on dominating their enemy, and the weight of the world began to lift off of Masaomi's shoulders. All was good.

* * *

The air was considerably chilly that night on his way back home. Masaomi tucked his hands into his pockets, feeling the warmth wrap around his icy fingers. A cloud of air escaped past his lips as he breathed out into the frigid air.

The city was quite calm, not many pedestrians were out and about at this hour.

_I better head back to Saki…_

He thought.

_...She better have not locked me out._

Turning a rather tight corner, Masaomi kept his gaze forward, making sure to keep an eye on his surroundings.

You never know when you could run into a shady character.

Ikebukuro wasn't a very safe city anymore with the increase of gang activity. He was familiar with the typical gang hideouts and with Izaya's help, he had learned the location of loads more too. That said, it was important to keep your head up and watch everybody.

The walk back seemed to take less time than he had thought. Masaomi took a few steps up the stairs towards the door, only to have it fully knocked down. A few scraps stuck out from where it broke off and the majority of the door had collapsed to the floor. Instantly, Masaomi's heart pounded.

_Saki!_

He burst into the apartment to find all of their belongings damaged. Everything on the walls had been ripped off and practically everything else laid on the floor smashed to pieces.

_Where was Saki!?_

Masaomi could feel his heartbeat in his ears as he charged from room to room. "Saki!?" Nope, not in the bedroom. "Saki!?" Not in the bathroom either… The more rooms he found to be empty, the more his panic escalated. Their apartment wasn't big. "Saki!? Answer me! Where are you!?" Doors, cupboards, and drawers slammed open as the boy searched and searched for anywhere she could be hiding.

He stood there, panting loudly as he scrolled through his phone contacts. What should he do? Who should he call? His vision blurred, making the names hard to read. An arm wiped across his face as he sniffed his emotions back. He couldn't panic. He had to think straight.

Before he could do anything else, Masaomi was struck from behind. He fell through the air and smacked face-first onto the wooden floor. His entire head stung and everything seemed dizzy. Despite the searing pain roaming through his head right then, Masaomi felt himself being lifted by someone.

"You miss your girlfriend huh?" A low voice boomed, volume echoing off the walls.

At the mere mention of her, Masaomi flailed violently, trying to break free. "What did you do to Saki!?"

The person behind him chuckled. "Nothing yet. But you'll see very soon."

Masaomi felt his legs dragging behind as the person carried him towards the bedroom. Frantic eyes scanned the room again. She couldn't be here, he had already checked that room. His thoughts were proven wrong when two other men appeared from the closet and pulled out Saki from under the bed.

"SAKI!" Masaomi shrieked at the top of his lungs. His head still ached but that wasn't important to even think about. "You guys better let her go right now!"

Her entire body was tied up tightly by thick ropes and a nice large sticky piece of tape latched across her mouth preventing her from making any noise above a grunt. Her sad eyes widened when they met her boyfriend.

Two of the intruders had their hold onto each of Masaomi's arms, their steel grip making it next to impossible to escape from.

_Think…_

_THINK!_

His mind was spinning. What could he do to escape...to get out of their grasp...to save Saki?! None of the techniques that Izaya taught him were able to come to mind. He was drawing a blank...

…. _Quit panicking! Or…._

"I'm guessing you have no idea who we are, or what business we have with you, do you?" One of the men spoke. He came out from behind Masaomi to show his face. He gave Masaomi a hard stare before breaking out into a boisterous laugh. "HA! Of course you don't! See, all we had to do was remove our colour, and you were instantly fooled!"

Masaomi's head felt faint. No. It couldn't be…

"That's right bitch-face! The Blue Squares got you cornered this time! Can't do much without your little crew now can ya?!" He gave Saki a hard kick in the side causing the girl to muffle out a pained yelp.

Hot flashes of anguish coursed throughout Masaomi's body. "Don't hurt her!" His throat burned from the sheer volume of his outburst.

The man stared at Masaomi in disbelief and then burst out laughing once more. "That's it?! That's all you got for me?!" He pointed a long, slender finger so close that Masaomi could have bitten it if he tried. "Listen here asshole, how about we play a little game?" He took a few steps backward so one of his feet was resting right beside Saki's head. "Quiz time! Which of these is going to happen to your little girlfriend?"

Masaomi struggled his hardest to be released from the death grip he was currently held hostage in. Within a second, one of Izaya's tricks popped into his mind. With his foot, he swung it back to hit the back of the man's legs and yanked it forward to try to swing him backward. Unfortunately, the man saw ahead and gave his foot the roughest kick. Hissing through teeth Masaomi swung his head back against the man's chest. Were they seriously wearing steel-toed boots?

" **A:** She's going to have her head kicked in while you watch," the guy exclaimed far too loudly. " **B:** She's going to get nice beautiful carvings all over her body while you watch. Or **C:** She's going to have all her little fingers and toes shattered _while you watch!"_

Simply hearing the threats was enough. "Let her go! I mean it!" Masaomi snarled at him, fighting against his captors. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Time's up! The correct answer was all of the above!" The grin the man was wearing sickened Masaomi to the core. "And once we're done with her, you can get the same treatment!" His evil laugh filled the entire room. "And don't worry! I'll ensure the two of you get matching markings! Aw how romantic!" He sneered.

The man flipped out a blade from his sleeve. He turned it this way and that, inspecting it as the light glistened on it. "You really shoulda thought twice before fucking with us." A disgusting smirk etched itself onto his face. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Masaomi's eyes trembled as the man closed in on Saki. He thrashed about, hoping to god he'd be able to escape and kick the ever-living shit out of the dirtbag. However, no matter how much he struggled, there was no way out of the iron grip.

Lifting the hem of Saki's shirt, the thug made his work, using the knife to slice jagged lines across porcelain skin.

Saki's painful wails etched themselves into Masaomi's very being. His body shook as he was forced to watch his girlfriend get tortured.

"No…." He felt his throat closing up. "Get away from her!"

"Hey guys!" the thug called out. Slimy hands slid their way down to her left thigh and held it tight. "What should I carve in here?"

The number of snickers and unruly suggestions being thrown around as if this were some kind of game brought tears to Masaomi's eyes. He couldn't save her… this was all his fault. "Stop it! Please! Please stop it!"

The thug snorted at the one suggestion of his fellow gang mate. "Slut. Heh. Classic." He began his work on the 'S', beads of blood pooling along each line as he sliced, suddenly slowing down, deciding to force each cut to last longer.

This was a nightmare. This was not happening. Masaomi's head swirled at each of his girlfriend's painful shrieks. He couldn't even look. His entire body was in shock and his limbs locked. "I'll do whatever you want! Just please stop hurting her! Hurt me instead!" The more he cried out, begging from his heart for them to cease the torture, the more that seemed to motivate them to continue but harsher than before.

The guy from earlier bent down and pried open one of Saki's hands. "Hey Kida," he said in a demeaning voice. "Ever wonder what it sounds like for bones to break?" He didn't even wait for a response. "Listen closely!"

Masaomi instantly felt vomit travel up his throat at the crack sound that emitted. He tried to swallow it back down but his throat was too dry. Saki's voice cracked as she screeched, head whipping back. Her entire body moved unnaturally as the two men continued their torture methods on her.

"This little piggy went to market!"

CRACK.

"This little piggy stayed home!"

CRACK!

The screams were never-ending. Eventually, Saki's voice slowly began to give out and Masaomi felt faint when the guy holding him forced his head straight ahead to look.

"Hm...well that's no fun, the bitch passed the fuck out." One of the men spectated.

Masaomi's vision blurred from sheer panic. Saki was hurt. She was hurt! He let this happen….he…

One of the thugs, Masaomi assumed was the leader, stood away from Saki and approached him. He took the blood-stained knife and wiped it across Masaomi's cheek. "Looks like it's your turn." The thug practically sang before digging the blade into the skin.

Masaomi bit back a scream, clenching his teeth together to avoid giving the enemy any more pleasure. He felt defeated, but not enough to succumb himself to willingly showing pain.

"Oh? Was that not enough? Would you instead like the same treatment your girlfriend went through?" His tone had misplaced playfulness seeping out of it. It was jarring. No. It was plain psychotic.

A fist found its way, implanting itself into Masaomi's stomach, the force enough to cause him to double over if he wasn't being held hostage. Having not expected this, he cried out in pain much to the enemy's pleasure.

He breathed out heavily, wincing as his abdomen throbbed like it had a heartbeat of its own.

"Now do you get the picture? You fuck with the Blue Squares and you face the consequences." The leader got up close to Masaomi's face. "I can't wait to see what other buttons I can push…-"

Suddenly the sound of footsteps bounding up the apartment stairs met Masaomi's ears.

"Shit! Someone's coming!"

Almost instantly, a whole army of Yellow Scarves flooded into the room, each member carrying various weapons.

"What the hell?!"

Masaomi felt the hold on him grow loose, and soon he collapsed to his knees.

"Chief! Hey, are you okay? We came as soon as we were alerted!" One of the members of the Yellow Scarves approached Masaomi, kneeling to his level as he spoke. "We got an anonymous tip that you were in trouble!"

A cough escaped Masaomi's throat but he managed to stay upright despite the intense pain his body was going through right now. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm so glad you guys are here…"

"We've always got your back!" All of the members shouted out agreements in unison.

"Hey, assholes!" The leader stood up and suddenly had a large hammer in his hand. "I've got this thing here." He swung it up and over to lean against his shoulder. "Who wants to be the first one for me to try it out on?"

Masaomi barely could focus on the ongoing fight. His eyes laid on Saki who was still out cold. He had to get to her right this second. As he looked around, he noticed several of the members of the Blue Squares were blocking her. Luckily for him, it wasn't intentional and once they moved, he'd get over there and hold her in his arms and never let go.

"Hey Kida, you asshole!"

That annoying voice snapped Masaomi out of his thoughts. He gazed up at the man who had stepped far too close to him for his liking.

"Since nobody volunteered, my first tester will be you! You know why?" He posed as if he was swinging a baseball bat. "Because you're the biggest asshole here!"

As he swung down, everything stopped in slow motion. Masaomi tried to move quickly but the searing pain in his abdomen prevented him from moving too much. Hands shoved him roughly, pushing him to the floor. Masaomi sucked in a breath as his injured stomach collided with the hardwood and he groaned when he rolled over to his back. Realization struck him that he had just been shoved out the way. Wait, by who!?

Yatabe cried out when the hammer smashed into the side of his arm and he landed on the ground, clenching it tightly to himself.

"Yatabe!" Masaomi screamed as he crawled over as fast as he could.

The boy's eyes were squeezed shut for a brief moment before slowly opening to gaze up at his beloved friend.

"What did you do that for!?" Masaomi's volume was far too loud without him meaning it to be. Every one of his friends was getting hurt and it was all because of him.

"Y-You were… were going to...get hit," Yatabe barely let out. He coughed and rolled onto his back.

Masaomi felt his teeth clench tightly. This was it. The final battle. Izaya had taught him multiple new moves and he knew how every Blue Square fought. They could do this and finally end that gang for good.

When Masaomi joined in, everyone else had already begun fighting with various weapons, the ground lightly dusted with blood as minutes went on by.

There was no holding back. This was a full-fledged gang war now.

* * *

Masaomi stood at the end of Saki's hospital bed, His eyes fixated on the peaceful rise and fall of her chest.

The fight with the Blue Squares was forced to an end when the cops decided to show up. Someone must have heard all of the commotion and sought out help.

Masaomi's hand went to the bandage on his cheek. The cut still stung, as did the rest of his body. However…

His fists clenched tightly. Saki was in this bed because of him. If he hadn't left to go see Izaya that night...if he just stayed by her side….none of this would have happened. He should have been more prepared. He should have seen it coming. Those Blue Squares….he seriously underestimated them.

"Excuse me." A nurse entered the room with a clipboard in hand. "Do you happen to be a family member of Miss. Mikajima?" Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. Her eyes studied him carefully as if she already knew the answer.

Masaomi's throat felt dry. "Uh...no I'm just a friend."

Yeah, it was a lie, but truthfully, did he really deserve to call himself her boyfriend? Now that he thought about it, did he really deserve to call himself a friend either?

The nurse smiled warmly. "I'm glad you came to see her. She's doing quite well; she will be able to be discharged very soon."

"That's great news," he let out in a big breath. He hung his head. So she managed to survive this one. What about the inevitable next fight? He couldn't keep dragging her into this mess. What happened if she…

The Blue Squares were at the top of their game this time. Who knew which gang would have come out victorious if the cops hadn't interrupted the fight? Part of him wasn't all that confident it would have been his.

When the nurse left, he tore his eyes away from the sleeping girl and pulled out his phone, calling a familiar number.

"H-Hey." He cleared his voice. "Can I come over right now? I'm sorry if you're busy but… it's urgent."

"And what could be so urgent?"

"Please," Masaomi said a little too sternly. He wasn't in the mood for formalities.

"Alright alright, my door will be open for you when you arrive."

"Thanks."

Masaomi's eyes remained on the floor as he hung up the phone. Shoving it in his pocket, he gave one last look at the girl and left the hospital for Shinjuku.

The entire train ride was done in silence. He stared mindlessly out the window, his thoughts fully consumed by one girl. If only he could take her place in the hospital bed. If only he had endured the pain she went through instead. But no. Here he was scot-free. He didn't deserve that one bit.

* * *

When he arrived at Izaya's, he slowly crept in, shutting the door behind him.

"Hey there Masaomi!"

Izaya's cheerful voice did nothing to urge a smile out of Masaomi or make him feel even the tiniest bit better. The boy pressed his lips together firmly and averted his gaze, still standing at the doorway.

"You know, smiles suit you a lot better," Izaya stated. He waved a hand forward. "Come on in! Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks," Masaomi muttered, slowly walking inside. He took a seat on the couch and noticed the teacup placed in front of him on the table anyway.

The two sat in silence. Izaya was usually really good about giving Masaomi some time to gather his thoughts. He never pressed him to speak when he wasn't ready. Instead, he sat there sipping on tea while he waited patiently for the boy.

Masaomi felt his fists clench as he stared down at his lap. How was he to explain this? Where would he even begin? Would Izaya think of him as a coward for not being able to save Saki? Many questions ran through his mind and he was almost embarrassed to tell the informant anything at all. He was a failure.

His body jolted slightly when two tears hit his pants. Quickly, he swiped a hand across his eyes. He was pathetic. Crying and moping. With a deep breath, he exhaled.

"The Blue Squares attacked us today… a...and it didn't go well."

There was a pregnant pause.

Masaomi took this as an invitation to continue.

"We were ambushed. They hurt Saki...badly." His hands clenched together angrily. He felt stupid telling Izaya these things...but he needed to vent.

...And Izaya was one of the few he could lean on.

Izaya placed his teacup down onto the wooden coaster. He had an odd expression on his face, one that Masaomi could not pinpoint. "That must have been a difficult situation. Were you scared?" His tone lacked the empathy the words held.

Masaomi's mouth opened, only to close again. He had been scared. Anyone would have been but did he want to tell Izaya that? The guy whom he had gotten advice and help from? Izaya had worked so hard with him. He had spent too much time with him. He couldn't admit to how pathetic he actually handled that situation.

"N-No."

"I don't believe you."

Masaomi swallowed hard. Of course, Izaya could read him like a book. He looked down at his palms that were still in tight fists. He was extremely pathetic. The most pathetic leader of all time.

Before Masaomi could respond once more, Izaya leaned back, his leg crossed over his knee. "Did my techniques not help you?"

Masaomi's head hung slightly, not wanting to offend the older man. "N-Not really... As I said, The Blue Squares were steps ahead of us. We just... weren't good enough."

A hum filled the air. "Not good enough? No, I wouldn't say that. I think you were equally matched, and that was the problem."

Masaomi's head whipped upwards. Equally matched?! Just what was he saying?

Izaya smiled like he predicted the reaction. "I can tell you're wondering 'how could you say that when we were ambushed?' Well, if you truly want to know, I'll tell you this:"

He leaned forward.

"This entire time when you thought you were gaining the upper hand, The Blue Squares were right behind you, figuring out their next ultimate ambush. Once the word came out that the leader of the Yellow Scarves had a girlfriend, well, you can guess how that turned out."

Masaomi's mouth went dry.

"So, going back to what I originally had said, The Yellow Squares and The Blue Squares are equally matched because they have both been getting their ideas from the same source. While one gets ahead, the other is only one step behind ultimately creating a game of cat and mouse. There is no true winner."

Masaomi sat there for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what he was being told. "I... I don't understand." He looked at Izaya expectantly, waiting for the man to explain himself but he never received an answer. "Who told The Blue Squares about Saki? How did they know where we lived?" Nothing made sense but Masaomi needed to know exactly who was giving out personal information. He needed to make that stop before things got even worse.

Izaya simply leaned forward again, placing his elbows on his knees, giving the boy a deep look. "I'll ask you this, who do you tell your most trusted information to?"

Masaomi's face paled at the implication. "The Yellow Scarves would never do that! They're my friends!"

Izaya laughed at his reaction. "I wasn't talking about The Yellow Scarves."

Frustration slowly built up from not understanding. "Then who were you talking abo-" Soon after asking that, it clicked in his brain. Immediately, with shaky legs, the boy burst from the seat and took weak steps backward away from the couch. "You...y-you...why...no...no way...you wouldn't..." His eyes were glued to the man sitting in the seat. His mind was all frazzled. "No...no..." The grin that grew on Izaya's face was enough to give him nightmares. "Tell me this isn't true!"

A cackle escaped Izaya's lips. "If a customer asks for the information, who am I to say no?"

The room was spinning. Every inch of Masaomi's being was shaking. This couldn't be happening. The one person he confided in...the person he could ask anything and get valuable answers from...was selling his information under his nose...

...

...And was enjoying it.

"That's..." Shock, betrayal...it was coursing through him, causing his blood to boil. "That's just plain sick! How- how could you!? Is this just a game to you?!" His voice level skyrocketed, making it clear to the receiver the level of his anger.

"Nowhere in our conversations did you say anything we talked about was classified." Izaya shrugged as if he wasn't currently being verbally attacked. "I don't see why I'm being yelled at."

Masaomi stood there, his entire body shaking. His mind was so blurred that he couldn't even think straight. All that he could focus on were his feelings of hurt, betrayal, and anger at the man. "I thought you were helping me! And then you just went and stabbed me in the back!" Tears filled his vision as he violently blinked them away. "Saki trusted you too! Now she's in the hospital and could have died because of you! And you don't even feel any guilt!?"

"Tell me why I should have guilt?" Izaya asked calmly. "I didn't tell them to attack your little girlfriend."

"You gave them our address!" Masaomi shouted at him, anger coursing through his veins. "What did you think they were going to do with it!?"

A little breathy laugh escaped the informant's lips. The boy's reactions were simply beautiful. "What my customers do or don't do with the information I sell to them isn't my business."

That tone. It was filled with amusement as if this was all just a game to him. Masaomi loathed it. He wanted to sink his fist into that taunting smirk...

"Well, now what will be your next move?" Izaya spoke up. His eyes locked onto Masaomi's. "Or are you too furious with me to even think straight?"

There was that tone again.

Masaomi's breaths came in short hitches. He was beyond holding back now. As if his body was acting on its own, he lurched forward, arm reeling back to deliver a punch that would surely knock his teeth in...

But it never landed.

A stinging sensation shot up his arm causing Masaomi to spit out a pain-filled cry. He doubled over, nearly tripping over his own feet as his arm twisted behind his back.

Izaya's demeaning aura grew as he held Masaomi in a rather unforgiving hold. He didn't say anything though, which oddly fueled Masaomi's resentment towards him.

"Agh!" Masaomi cried out as he struggled to get out of the strong grip. He tried kicking Izaya from behind; He tried using his other hand to remove the arm the way he had been taught earlier. Neither worked. Izaya's breathy chuckle could be felt on the back of Masaomi's neck.

"Your moves are so predictable."

That sentence alone was enough to throw more fuel into the fire deep within Masaomi. His arm seared with pain even though neither party moved. "You're a lying dick." His teeth ground against each other.

Izaya merely laughed at that and tossed the boy to the floor as if he were nothing more than a dirty towel.

Masaomi hit the ground roughly but even that felt better than the hold he was previously in. He laid there for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts but they were incredibly tangled. The burning sensation in his arm spoke loudly but he still pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. Sharp eyes glared up at the man hovering above.

Izaya gazed down with a bright amusing smile, loving the look he was receiving. "That's a good look for you."

He felt numb. He didn't know what to think anymore. Who was he to trust? Who was he to lean on when things went to shit? He had no one. He didn't deserve Saki, she was better off without him.

Masaomi was ultimately alone…

...And there was no one he hated more than _himself_.


End file.
